98th Auction
2018/11/10
Lot 493
Gustave Sandoz, Anc. Palais Royal, 10. Rue Royal Paris, 124 x 192 x 115 mm, circa 1870
A large and heavy "Grande et Petite Sonnerie", eight-day duration, five-gong, quarter repeating and quarter striking carriage clock with alarm and Westminster Chime Carillon
Case: gilt brass, lever for choosing between Grande or Petite Sonnerie and Silence. Dial: silvered, signed A B (Achille Brocot). Movm.: rectangular brass full plate movement, signed, gilt, 6 hammers / 5 gongs, 3 barrels for going train, striking train and alarm, platform with English lever escapement, gold screw compensation balance.
The case is extremely heavy and in excellent condition; it is embellished with Corinthian columns and glass panels that allow an unimpeded view of the complicated striking mechanism and the unusual signature on the narrow side of the plate: "Gustave Sandoz, 146 147 148, Palais Royal, Paris". The facet wheel above the escapement is engraved with a noble crown.
Westminster Chimes play a 20-chime sequence, on four gongs, with hours struck on their own gong. It is based on a complicated mechanism, believed to have been originally invented by someone with initials AB, which are found punched inside the back plate on all Westminster Chimes carriage clocks known. It has been speculated that either Alfred Baveux or the company of Achille Brocot is behind the mysterious A.B. The last carriage clock with Westminster Chimes on the market (without an alarm) was sold by Sothebys London on September 29, 2005, lot 69, for £17,400 (EUR 22.200).
The original Westminster Chimes were implemented by Lord Grimthorpe in the Big Ben clock at the tower of the Westminster Palace. The tune was composed and presumably written by William Crotch in 1780; it was based on Handels Messiah.
A large and heavy "Grande et Petite Sonnerie", eight-day duration, five-gong, quarter repeating and quarter striking carriage clock with alarm and Westminster Chime Carillon
Case: gilt brass, lever for choosing between Grande or Petite Sonnerie and Silence. Dial: silvered, signed A B (Achille Brocot). Movm.: rectangular brass full plate movement, signed, gilt, 6 hammers / 5 gongs, 3 barrels for going train, striking train and alarm, platform with English lever escapement, gold screw compensation balance.
The case is extremely heavy and in excellent condition; it is embellished with Corinthian columns and glass panels that allow an unimpeded view of the complicated striking mechanism and the unusual signature on the narrow side of the plate: "Gustave Sandoz, 146 147 148, Palais Royal, Paris". The facet wheel above the escapement is engraved with a noble crown.
Westminster Chimes play a 20-chime sequence, on four gongs, with hours struck on their own gong. It is based on a complicated mechanism, believed to have been originally invented by someone with initials AB, which are found punched inside the back plate on all Westminster Chimes carriage clocks known. It has been speculated that either Alfred Baveux or the company of Achille Brocot is behind the mysterious A.B. The last carriage clock with Westminster Chimes on the market (without an alarm) was sold by Sothebys London on September 29, 2005, lot 69, for £17,400 (EUR 22.200).
The original Westminster Chimes were implemented by Lord Grimthorpe in the Big Ben clock at the tower of the Westminster Palace. The tune was composed and presumably written by William Crotch in 1780; it was based on Handels Messiah.
Sold
estimated
14.000—18.000 €
Price realized
19.900 €